On December 28, 2011, 34 people, including 18 children, were massacred in Roboskî village of Qileban (Uludere) district of Şirnex (Şırnak) province as a result of a bombing by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). For 13 years, mothers from Roboskî have been demanding justice for 34 people. One of these mothers is Kadriye Encü, who lost her son Hamza Encü in the massacre. For 10 years, she traveled to cities such as Amed (Diyarbakır), Pirsûs (Suruç), Ankara, Istanbul and Halabçe in the Federated Kurdistan Region (FED) with her son Hamza's photograph in her hands. She fought for the perpetrators to be tried. Kadiriye Encü could not bear this pain any longer and died of a heart attack in 2021 before she could see justice.  Kadriye Encü's struggle for justice is led by her daughter Taybet Encü. She wants to fulfill her mother's will with the photograph of her murdered brother in one hand and the photograph of her mother, whom she lost in her quest for justice, in the other.

 

Taybet Encü stated that she will continue her struggle to fulfill her mother's will and demanded justice. 

 

SHE TOOK UP THE STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE

 

Taybet Encü stated that she is carrying out her struggle based on her mother's will and said: “I am the older sister of Hamza Encü. My brother was murdered in the Roboskî massacre. My mother demanded justice day and night to find the killers. But my mother died before the killers of my brother and 33 others were held accountable. That anger and wound always remained inside my mother. After my mother died, I promised her that I would fight for justice for her. We will not give up the struggle until justice comes. For 13 years, justice has not come to Roboski. But we will never give up this struggle for justice. While 34 people were blown to pieces, no one was tried and no one was held accountable. Why was everyone silent and why was no one held accountable? If these perpetrators are exposed and held accountable, maybe we will feel a little relieved.”  

 

Taybet Encü stated that they paid a great price as a family after the massacre. “I saw a lot of things and we suffered a lot after the massacre. I was detained and lawsuits were filed against me. I was pregnant when I was detained and had a miscarriage due to stress. We were all traumatized after this massacre. But despite all this, my mother was seeking justice with my brother's picture in her hand. Her only desire was to look the murderers of her children in the eye and hold them to account. Because of this pain, my mother's heart stopped and she died. We will voice our demand for justice even if a thousand years pass. We will not forget as long as we have life in our bodies. My mother's will to us was 'never forget, never let us forget'. We will speak out and demand justice until the killers are held accountable.”

 

HOW CAN WE FORGET?

 

Taybet Encü continued her speech as follows: "The whole world saw that 34 people were massacred by warplanes.These 34 people were children and students. Everyone knows that these people went tot he border to earn a living. They were civilians and they were killed. This state cannot say, 'We killed them by mistake'. 34 people were killed in a planned manner. The order to kill 34 people was given by Ankara. Every year when winter comes, we experience the same pain again and again. My brother weighed 80 kilos but they brought back 10 kilos. How can we forget those massacre, those childre? If justice came to Roboski today, maybe Kurdish issue would be solved. If justice comes to Roboski, there will be peace. We will continue my mother's struggle for justice and continue to call for justice."

 

MA / Zeynep Durgut